Japan’s domestic new vehicle market expanded by 8.6% year-on-year to 426,883 units in June 2026, following a 5% rise to 393,162 units a year earlier, according to registration data released by the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association (JAMA). Sales of passenger vehicles rose by 9.5% to 360,452 units, while truck sales increased by 3.1% to 65,323 units.

Japan’s vehicle market has in the last two months been supported by the discontinuation of the prefectural Environmental Performance Tax at the end of March. Overall new vehicle demand in the country remains sluggish, however, reflecting slow economic growth in the country amid weak consumer sentiment, following interest rate hikes by the central bank and other rising cost-of-living pressures. The latest GDP data showed that growth slowed to 0.6% year-on-year in the first quarter of 2026.

In the first six months of the year, vehicle sales expanded by 1.8% to 2,387,189 units, after rising by over 10% to 2,345,461 units a year earlier, with passenger vehicle sales increasing slightly to 1,996,116 units, while truck sales rose by almost 10% to 384,988 units, led by an 18% surge in light truck sales to 116,763 units. Sales of medium and large buses and coaches increased by 8% to 6,085 units in this period, after a 66% surge to 1,108 units in June.

Toyota led the overall market year-to-date with a 5.4% sales rise to 763,568 units, driven by strong light and mini-truck sales, while its Daihatsu subsidiary saw its sales rise by over 7% to 280,607 units. Suzuki’s sales declined by 1.4% to 372,105 units, while Honda’s sales were slightly higher at 320,604 units and Nissan’s sales declined by 1.5% to 217,287 units.

Overseas brands, comprising mostly German brands such as Mercedes-Benz, BMW-Mini, Audi, and Volkswagen, accounted for almost 5% of total vehicle sales in Japan. Combined sales fell by 3.5% to 117,989 units in the first half of the year.

GlobalData expects light vehicle sales in the country to be largely unchanged in 2026 at 4.52 million units in 2026, after sales rose by 2% in 2025, followed by a 4% decline to 4.34 million units in 2027.